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Trumpeter eh?


Neil.C

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I've just got into their 1/24 Spitfire VB and lots of the smaller parts have those little cylindrical bits of flash attached to them which are very tiresome to clean off.

 

It's my first Trumpeter, are they always like this? Their kits aren't cheap.

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6 hours ago, Neil.C said:

I've just got into their 1/24 Spitfire VB and lots of the smaller parts have those little cylindrical bits of flash attached to them which are very tiresome to clean off.

 

It's my first Trumpeter, are they always like this? Their kits aren't cheap.

 

I don't build in that scale so I can't comment on that kit. I do have some of their 1/72 aircraft and they don't look that bad and the 1/700 ships I've built have been fine. Maybe it's just that kit?

 

thanks

Mike

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8 hours ago, Neil.C said:

I've just got into their 1/24 Spitfire VB and lots of the smaller parts have those little cylindrical bits of flash attached to them which are very tiresome to clean off.

 

It's my first Trumpeter, are they always like this? Their kits aren't cheap.

They may be tiresome, but they're not really flash. I believe they're cut in the molds to avoid sinkmarks or some other molding blemish.

Edited by Seawinder
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Do you mean the little cylindrical ejector pins attached to the small parts?  If so, Hasegawa also use these and they help release complex detailed parts from the mould halves. Although they all have to be removed, they do avoid the ejector pin mark smack in the middle of the detail that you can get with some other manufacturers.  They are much harder to fix.They can come in handy to represent the rear of instruments on panels.

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Thanks for the info.

 

Yes they are the little cylindrical pins and I was unaware of their benefit previously. Another thing I have learned on here.😀

 

Whilst I'm here, the flexible spark plug leads that go into the engine block, glue in with normal plastic cement?

 

They are a soft material and wanted to check before I destroyed them!

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if you keep all the little nubs of sprue you can chuck them in 1/2 bottle of tamiya extra thin and hey presto instant putty ;)

 

what are the leads made of?  vinyl tubing?

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The little dead-end "sprue" runners are there to prevent short-shots on delicate parts, and the ejector-pins with sticky-out bits are either badly worn, poorly made or not properly set during moulding.  In an ideal world they'd make the ejector pin marks all "outies", but that doesn't always happen, sadly.  Clever placement of them is an art however, and companies that take the time to avoid putting them slap-bang in the middle of details or visible areas are to be lauded for that effort.  Anyone that has had to clean up hundreds of these things off track links will probably agree :boom:

 

I'd fix the tubes with a bit of CA, as it's less reactive with unknown plastics than styrene cement, which basically melts plastic, and may ruin thin tubing if it's reactive. :owww:

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49 minutes ago, Lawzer said:

if you keep all the little nubs of sprue you can chuck them in 1/2 bottle of tamiya extra thin and hey presto instant putty ;)

That is a TOP TIP. :worthy:

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Thanks for the top tips everyone.

 

I did use a little superglue to stick the plug leads into the head and seems to have done the trick.

 

I have eventually finished the engine, bulkhead and engine cradle. It's a lot more involved than my usual basic 1/72 jobs.😨

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1 minute ago, Neil.C said:

While I'm here.......there a quite a few metal parts in the kit, fix with superglue?

Aye, unless they're structural, in which case I'd consider epoxy for added strength and resistance to shear forces :smartass:

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1 minute ago, Mike said:

Aye, unless they're structural, in which case I'd consider epoxy for added strength and resistance to shear forces :smartass:

Ah right, cheers Mike.

 

Got some Araldite here.

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That'll do the trick.  You'll probably need to support/tape the parts together for 5 minutes, as it's horrible slippery stuff, but once it's set you'll be happy as a pig in :poop:

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